by Jeff Metcalfe, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Metcalfe, USA TODAY Sports

MESA, Ariz. -- Missy Franklin says she's had the "time of her life" twice, just since February. The longer you talk to her, the more you wish you could be her.

She turns 18 in a month and has yet to graduate from high school, but Franklin is at a happy place that few reach in a lifetime. Her 10 major international swimming medals - five each at the Olympics and world championships - made her famous at a young age, but something more profound makes her special.

"You're never going to catch Missy out of the act" of being friendly and engaging, her long-time coach Todd Schmitz said. "She's sincere and genuine and truly cares about you. That's the way Missy is and how she connects with people. She loves coming to meets like this because she gets to meet kids that really were her five years ago."

Franklin embraces rather than endures the demands of stardom - photos, autographs, interviews - at the Arena Grand Prix in Mesa as a small price for what the sport already has given her.

"I think the Grand Prixs are more for social fun instead of actually coming to swim," said Franklin, who won the 100-meter freestyle Thursday night in 54.27 seconds over Hungarian Katinka Hosszu and Natalie Coughlin. "I get so excited to see all my teammates (from national teams). You miss them so much because you spend 24/7 together for weeks at a time, then you don't see each other at all for a couple of months."

Schmitz said Franklin had the advantage of returning to the familiarity of her home and high school in suburban Denver after the London Olympics rather than adapting to college life. She had time to celebrate and accept invitations, like being Fiesta Bowl Parade grand marshal while still getting some quality swimming in with the Colorado Stars and for Regis Jesuit High School, which not surprisingly won the Colorado 5A state title.

Some complained about Franklin returning to the prep pool but they were mostly drowned out by competitors glad for the opportunity to swim against her.

"As soon as I started swimming high school, I realized I just needed to do it for me," Franklin said. "I get so emotional when I talked about it because it was my last season. To end it with a championship was the perfect, perfect way."

Now it's on to the University of California, where Franklin expects to swim for two seasons before likely turning professional 16 months ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Cal, coached by Teri McKeever - who directed the 2012 U.S. Olympic women's team - won NCAA titles in 2011 and '12 and was second this year.

At a Western region meet last month, Franklin swam times that would have won at the NCAA meet over champions who were college seniors.

"I'm just excited to see what I can give to the team in any way and what the team can give to me," Franklin said. "I know having those teammates and Coach Teri is going to be amazing for me. They're going to help me so much in so many different ways. It's a perfect match for me."

Franklin still has two proms to attend, some Advanced Placement tests to take - she's a 4.0 student - and high school graduation in the next six weeks. She came here after eight days in the Bahamas shooting a documentary with former Arizona State wrestler Anthony Robles about helping people with disabilities discover new passions. "We went scuba diving, we swam with dolphins, it was awesome," she said.

Her summer figures to include a trip to Barcelona for the World Championships.